Coronavirus updates, Oct. 29: Fresno County sees more than 100 cases, caution urged
Fresno County on Wednesday marked its seventh consecutive day adding more than 100 COVID-19 new cases per day, according to data from the California Department of Public Health.
With the upward trend, county officials urge caution as Halloween approaches.
The state reported Fresno County added 127 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, pushing its total to 31,096 infections since the pandemic began in March. The county’s death toll due to COVID-19 remained at 439.
Fresno County reports on the number of COVID-19 deaths on Tuesdays and Fridays.
On Tuesday, the county was able to keep its current red Tier 2 designation under California’s Blue Print for a Safer Economy, meaning restaurants, churches, and other businesses, such as gyms, will continue to offer limited indoor services.
Still, Fresno County’s top doctor this week feared that “fatigue” might be setting in for residents who may want to celebrate Halloween without social distancing. He urged caution as the county has managed to remain in a less-restrictive tier of commercial reopenings.
Backsliding into the purple Tier 1, which is the most restrictive level, would mean that restaurants, for example, would be forced to close indoor dining and would have to rely on limited outdoor services, take-out, or delivery.
Across the central San Joaquin Valley
The number of cases and deaths have continued to increase across the central San Joaquin Valley. As of late Wednesday, the region had recorded a total of 71,928 confirmed cases and 1,048 deaths due to COVID-19.
On Wednesday, Tulare County added three new deaths related to the virus and the respiratory illness, and Madera County reported two additional deaths.
Across California, a total of 4,515 new coronavirus infections were reported Wednesday, bringing the state’s total to 908,713 cases, according to the state’s data. The state’s total count is up from 904,198 the previous day.
The state on Wednesday reported an additional 75 deaths due to COVID-19, pushing the death toll to 17,475 statewide since the pandemic’s onset.
Across the nation
As the number of coronavirus cases increases across the country, several hospitals and medical facilities are being targeted by cyberattacks by Russian hackers whom American officials and researchers fear could cause chaos during the upcoming elections next week, according to the New York Times.
“We expect panic,” one of the hackers involved in the attacks was reported saying in Russian, and the private conversation was captured by Hold Security, which is a security company that tracks online criminals, the New York Times reported.
Affected hospitals have maintained that critical patient care has not been affected due to the cyberattacks, in which their data is held for ransom.
As of Wednesday morning, the country had added a record 500,000 new COVID-19 cases in the last week. Those record numbers came on the heels of the Trump administration on Tuesday, saying it had ended the pandemic.
This story was originally published October 29, 2020 at 8:33 AM.
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